My favorite take on orcs is still Orkworld by John Wick. It began when he was still at AEG and was going to play in the company D&D game and wanted to be an ork bard. He was told 'You can't. Orcs are evil and are just speedbumps on the way to the bad guy'. He said, if I can write you something to convince you, will you let me play one?
One four-thousand word essay on ork culture, society, diet, etc later, he had the basis for a new world.
In this world, orks are migratory, following the paths of animals like caribou. When they come of age, the warriors essentially get bound to a female ork who becomes their leader/tribal mother, and form their own tribe. The game is about survival amongst other things.
For an idea of the rest of the world: dwarves seek perfection, including perfection in the art of warfare; you have the human empire which is very Roman; and the elves, horrifically perfect killing machines from space who eat magic and its radiation - the only thing said to be able to kill an elf is another elf, and they are utterly treacherous and traitorous. Halfings/hobbits were once known, but once the humans discovered their homeland, the human Emperor declared a bounty on them of 2gp per head, and soon they were believed to be exterminated.
One reason the other races fear orks is that orks eat of their fallen and foes. They'e discovered a way to take that person's traits, essentially, by eating of the flesh. Eating cowards, however, is believed to make you 'yellow' or sickly.
